The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the AfCFTA Secretariat have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in supporting the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The signing ceremony took place during the Africa Business Forum (ABF 2025) in Ethiopia.

This landmark agreement sets the stage for closer collaboration between both institutions to advance trade integration, industrialisation and private sector development across Africa.

The MoU establishes a framework for ECA and the AfCFTA Secretariat to work together in key areas, including supporting the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, promoting industrialisation and deeper economic linkages across African economies, strengthening institutional and technical capacities to implement AfCFTA policies, enhancing trade logistics and cross-border efficiency and encouraging business engagement in intra-African trade.

Through this partnership, both institutions commit to joint research, policy development, and technical assistance to ensure that AfCFTA implementation is inclusive, effective and beneficial for all African countries.

Speaking at the signing, ECA Executive Secretary, Claver Gatete, emphasised the importance of collaboration, stating that AfCFTA’s success depends on strong institutional partnerships. Similarly, AfCFTA Secretary-General, Wamkele Mene, highlighted the significance of the agreement, saying the partnership will enable them to accelerate AfCFTA’s operationalisation, by leveraging ECA’s expertise in trade policy, economic modelling and capacity building.

The partnership will focus on developing concrete trade facilitation programs, policy reforms and capacity-building initiatives to ensure smooth implementation of AfCFTA.